Your Commander-in-Chief – Chapter 144

Playing Deron in this world and running the main quest with someone was a first for me.

Every time a new expansion pack was added, I always charged ahead on my own, leaving my friends behind.

Besides, we all logged in at different times, so there was no way I could just wait around.

“Arthur, is the Human Clan quest near the World Tree’s Resting Place?”

“Yeah.”

I compared my quest with Arthur’s, just in case. Sometimes the quest methods for the Human Clan and the Demon Clan were completely opposite.

“Thank goodness.”

[Another Dimension’s Portal]

Discover the suspicious portal near the World Tree’s Resting Place 0/1

The main quest pointed to a location that had been the major stage of the previous expansion pack.

I left the fortress with Arthur, raising my arms high.

“Come forth!”

After shouting energetically, a gallant and splendid Windwalker burst forth from the magical formation that appeared in the air.

“Peeew!”

Its cry was also quite loud.

I turned to Arthur with a triumphant expression.

Given that the Windwalker had a long respawn time and many competitors, it was a rare mount even in the Korean server.

Let alone the global server, which likely had more players and tougher competition.

“Wow…”

Just as I expected, Arthur was mesmerized by my Windwalker.

His shoulders looked like they were about to dance with joy.

I chuckled softly and climbed onto the Windwalker’s back.

“Summon yours too, Arthur. Let’s fly quickly.”

“Uh, Yeo?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you need a spell to summon mounts on the Korean server?”

I shook my head with crossed arms. There was no special spell required.

But wouldn’t it be a bit odd not to say anything while calling forth such a magnificent mount?

I considered lines like, [Answer my call] or [Come forth, my servant], but in the end, the most straightforward option [Come forth!] was chosen.

Saying something lengthy in a tense situation would be a bit tough, anyway.

“Indeed. Yeo plays the game really enjoyably.”

Said Arthur as he summoned his griffon.

It seemed there was no special mount exclusive to the global server either.

“Let’s go!”

Flap-flap!

“Peeew!”

With Arthur riding his griffon, we took to the skies.

As we surveyed the direction of Lunaris Capital City, I spotted other players starting to travel on their griffons.

I couldn’t fall behind others.

“Let’s go!”

“Ah. Wait for me!”

As we picked up speed, Arthur shouted urgently, trying to catch up.

The difference in base speed between the griffon and the Windwalker meant that if we kept going like this, I would lag behind.

I gave the Windwalker a gentle pat on the head to slow down.

“Peeew-”

“That Windwalker wasn’t hard to capture, was it?”

“I probably discovered it first on the Korean server, so I caught it easily.”

“Wow… On our server, the waiting list was so long we had to wait a month…”

“A month? No, this kind of content is competitive. Are there really people waiting for it?”

“It’s basically a meaningless list. Just some people think that way. On our server, the Windwalker also had to be obtained through fierce competition.”

“Do you want to catch one too, Arthur?”

“I want to, but it requires too much time investment, doesn’t it?”

That was true. While Windwalkers had a fixed respawn cycle, the respawn location was random, so if luck wasn’t on your side, you could lose it right in front of you to another player.

It was just that Helena and I had gotten lucky.

“There it is!”

As I chatted with Arthur, we arrived at our destination already.

I maneuvered the Windwalker down toward the ground.

The cleansed forest from the vile energy of the other world was now remarkably pristine.

There was no purplish fog obscuring our view like before.

In the midst of such a forest, a suspicious large portal had formed.

[Portal of the Other Dimension.]

The main quest’s guidance marker pointed inside that portal.

It seemed we had to use another portal to travel to a different dimension.

“Shall we go?”

I asked Arthur, who had come closer as I got off the Windwalker.

She nodded with a slightly tense look in her eyes.

I felt a bit disappointed looking at the large portal.

How much fun would it have been if Helena were here with us?

Given Helena’s warm and cozy personality, she would have hit it off with Arthur just fine. Such a shame.

But what could be done? I couldn’t just coax someone busy in reality to log on to the game without any consideration.

Arthur and I slowly walked through the portal.

In that moment, bright light enveloped me, and my body was whisked away somewhere in an instant.

Every time I used the portal, I felt that sense.

Thanks to the overly realistic sensation for a game, many people had commented on it.

They wondered if we were really moving to another dimension.

Such a useless thought.

I shook my head and rubbed my blurry eyes.

As the warm light embracing me gradually faded, the surrounding scenery slowly became clear.

The new expansion pack was titled [Another Deron: Gap of Dimensions].

It was definitely a fitting title.

The surrounding scenery was familiar enough. If I hadn’t come through the portal, I would have believed I had used the Return Stone to fly near Lunaris Capital City.

“This place…!”

Arthur must have received a similar impression.

With his sparkling blue eyes, he looked around ceaselessly.

It wasn’t just us. Other players who had crossed into this area were checking the map with puzzled expressions.

Through the map, we could tell that this area was not the Deron we used to know.

Before we set off on the main quest, an NPC at the Adventurers’ Guild had mentioned they discovered a world similar to Deron within the gap of dimensions.

But it wasn’t just similar—it was eerily identical, like a world reflected in a mirror.

“Isn’t this new expansion pack a bit too lazily done?”

Arthur, who had been eagerly looking around, muttered in a deflated voice.

But it was too early to be disappointed. Looking at the preview images released before the server opened, there were indeed areas that didn’t exist before.

“Let’s at least go clear the quest.”

“Yeah.”

Since it was a familiar place, I planned to zip through it quickly.

I raised my arms and shouted energetically.

“Come forth!”

I confirmed with Arthur that even on the global server, Windwalkers were considered rare mounts.

So, it was time to show off my Peeew right here and now.

But—

[Mount summoning is prohibited in this area.]

“Gah…”

The Peeew I had been looking forward to didn’t come out.

I hastily scanned the surroundings as I read the message that popped up in front of me.

I realized I had drawn attention due to my loud shout.

I could feel my face slightly heating in embarrassment under everyone’s scrutiny.

Such situations often arose during role-playing games.

In times like this, one should act shamelessly.

“Hmm… It seems I can’t summon it here because this place is different from the existing world.”

Arthur simply nodded blankly at my words.

What a pity. If the Snow Mage had been here, she would have chimed in with a remark to match my mood.

Why do my acquaintances all log in at such different times?

“Humm… Let’s get moving.”

If I couldn’t ride a mount, I’d have to walk.

I turned to Arthur and began walking ahead.

As I walked the path, blurry memories came to mind.

“Arthur, do you remember this road?”

“Yeah. It reminds me of when I first started Deron.”

That’s right. This path we were walking again was one that beginners took when first starting Deron.

Newbies with no classes would be heading toward Lunaris Capital City, wielding swords and staffs.

Nostalgia washed over me as I recalled that day.

Even if the servers were different, the path we walked was similar.

After chatting with Arthur for some time, we finally arrived in front of the Large Fortress.

“What the…”

The quest marker pointed inside the Large Fortress.

Fortress, yes, fortress. There should be Lunaris Capital City there.

However, in this world’s Deron, a different fortress was established instead of Lunaris Capital City.

“Solaris…?”

The symbol of the Sun God Solaris was hanging on the outer wall of the fortress. It wasn’t the soft glow of Lunaris’ symbol.

The fortress wall wasn’t radiating the gentle moonlight either. It was a bright golden color, reminiscent of brilliant sunlight.

My heart raced.

Indeed, the developers of Deron knew how to stir people’s emotions.

They had us walk down a path we had already traversed, bringing forth hazy memories.

Just when people would start to reminisce, they revealed a fortress that was entirely different from the existing Deron.

It was a truly impressive regional layout.

[Another Deron]

Survey the Solaris Capital City 0/1

In that moment, the main quest was updated.

I pulled on Arthur’s hand, who was lost in thought beside me.

His thick gauntlets made his hand feel cold.

I should ask him to take off the gloves later.

“Arthur.”

“Ah.”

“Let’s hurry. We’ll fall behind at this rate.”

Regardless of the developers’ intentions, my play style remained unchanged.

“Oh right. We should go.”

I led Arthur’s hand towards Solaris Capital City.

The surrounding users seemed entranced by the spectacle of the fortress, frozen in place.

“Wow… Yeo. Look at that. Their armor is all different.”

“Yeah, I get it. Let’s hurry.”

There was no time to admire such minute details right now.

As Arthur gazed at the armor of the guards standing at the entrance, he followed me with a sullen expression upon hearing my words.

The quest marker encircled the entire capital city.

It seemed the developers wanted to showcase the fortress to the players.

But I could appreciate the village later on.

“Hey, Yeo!”

“Yeah?”

After we had made the round of the capital city, Arthur opened his mouth, looking at me with a somehow bewildered expression.

“Do you always play this hurriedly? Like you’re being chased by time…?”

“Yeah. That’s how I normally do it.”

“But…”

“But what?”

“The Yeo I saw in that video didn’t play like this…?”

“In a video?”

“Yeah… The Yeo I saw in that video sparkled so much. You changed your play style so freely! At times you became the Blood Demon King, and other times, a pirate captain sailing the seas. And you became an adorable Moo-Moo girl!”

“Well, that was when I hit max level. I was only able to play like that when every spec was maxed out. And the Moo-Moo girl was…”

“If you clear the main quests of this expansion pack, will you play like that again?”

“Probably, yeah.”

Arthur’s eyes sparkled at my words.

It seemed he had made some sort of resolution.

After all, leveling up came first right now.

I once again took Arthur’s hand and began to lead him forward.